


Casual Observer.

by Alcalexandria



Category: Dark Fate - Fandom, Terminator (Movies), Terminator: Dark Fate
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 16:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21460987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alcalexandria/pseuds/Alcalexandria
Summary: Sarah has time to think as the truck takes them out to the desert.
Relationships: Grace/Dani Ramos
Comments: 49
Kudos: 318





	Casual Observer.

**Author's Note:**

> R_H_Felidae_Athena has translated this into Chinese here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21659758
> 
> Which is very cool.

The truck hit another pothole, and Sarah’s teeth jarred in her head.

She’d travelled by all kinds of crappy planes, trains and automobiles over the years, but trucks like this could really show you the worth of a functioning fucking suspension system. Few more bumps like that, she half expected the wheels to start flying off. Probably a miracle they hadn’t already.

Also a miracle, Dani seemed to be sleeping soundly through it. At some point she’d gone from sitting along the side wall of the truck bed, to leaning against... Lurch to steady herself, and from there to lying over her legs. And then, somehow, managed to nod off in that position.

After all she’d been through in the last day, that would have been remarkable even without this nightmare hayride. But there she was, sleeping peacefully, as serene as a well fed baby tucked up in bed at night. You'd swear she hadn’t a care in the world.

But, Sarah knew pretty well, days like today could have unpredictable effects on a body. All the running, and panicking, and trying to make sense of everything at once, it could take an awful lot out of you. She didn’t begrudge the girl a little shuteye, considering, no matter how unlikely. They might all come to be glad of it later after all.

Maybe the more interesting part of the panorama was Lurch herself; she was very much awake.

Grace was sitting back against the tailgate, with Dani resting soundly in her lap, like it was the most natural thing in the world, just an everyday way to be with somebody. It was probably incongruous to Sarah because so little else about Grace was everyday, from the way she behaved, to her manners, to her intensity, and her distinct - and disturbing - web of scars.

Sarah figured she’d probably settled into that position as a shield against any attack from behind, at least initially, but… still. She could tell there was more to it than that.

If there was one thing she’d give Grace credit for – and it was probably the only thing – it was that she’d been constantly, almost irritatingly, alert to her surroundings, always scanning the distance for some threat. Even when she was making whatever she passed for small talk, Sarah could feel her looking over her damn head for anything on the approach. From the moment they’d met, she’d radiated a restless, frosty hypervigilance that made even a paranoid loon like Sarah inclined to bristle.

And she wasn't doing that now. Right now she was perfectly still. Calm even, and her attention was focused far closer to home.

Sarah would have hmm’ed aloud at this observation, but she caught herself. Even over the engine noise, Stretch would have heard it with her fucking Bionic Woman hearing, and this, she was deciding, was a pretty little picture she wanted to consider a little without any interruptions.

Grace was bent around Dani protectively, but not necessarily - it seemed to Sarah - against any oncoming attacker. She wasn’t watching for any enemy - she was watching Dani, only, intently. Like there was nothing else to think about. _All_ her attention was on Dani.

Hell, Sarah realised, she could probably make as much noise as she wanted, and freaky hyper hearing or not, she’d barely notice.

It seemed to her that, in the short time she’d known her, the only gentle thing about this woman was how she treated Dani. How she spoke to her, how she treated her, even how she physically manhandled her when she had to. There was always a care to it, something soft underneath it.

And now, the way she looked at her when she wasn’t looking.

That’s what it was. The way she was watching Dani’s face now.

Sarah knew that look.

_She’s in love with her._

She is in love with her.**** <strike></strike>

She leaned back against the truck.

Well now, she thought, wishing she could have a cigarette to think with.

Don’t that fill in a lot of blanks. And don’t that ask a bunch more questions.

_“Does she know her?”_ for one.

Does she know Dani in her future?

She must, right? She can’t be this far gone in less than 24 hours. Only crazy young idiots get that stupid that quickly, she thought scornfully. Whatever else she was, Grace wasn’t some clueless little waitress letting herself get carried away in all the drama, this wasn't something that happened overnight.

But on that note... Assuming she does know her, wherever she comes from, is this thing a two way street?

Only Grace could tell her that, and Sarah didn't think she would. But she couldn't help speculate.

She thought again of how quickly she’d seen Dani trust Grace. Not just to keep her safe, but… whatever other kind of trust you could call it. And she’d tried to reciprocate on it too - Dani wasn’t exactly a physically imposing figure, but she’d watched over her like a little pitbull back in the motel room. Sarah didn’t doubt she’d have physically fought her if she thought she was any kind of threat to her strange new defender. She'd probably never been in a real fight in her whole life, but if she'd thought for one second Sarah would hurt Grace, she'd have tried it. She'd have lost, sure, but she'd have tried it.

Sarah thought about how easily, naturally, she’d let herself lean on that stranger’s lap to sleep, how instinctively it had come to her. How at ease she could be in the middle of this nightmare so long as Grace was there, how quick she was to intercede when it looked like she and Sarah might argue.

Wasn't for Sarah's sake, that was for sure.

She could see it, Sarah decided to herself. Wasn’t a sure bet, but she could see it happening.

She watched a little longer, for a few more miles, as she mulled this over.

Grace never once took her eyes off the young woman sleeping against her, and her gaze kept a warmth her clear blue eyes made surprising.

Oblivious to being watched, she reached out to rest her hand on Dani’s shoulder, with as much gentleness – hell, tenderness – as she had hesitation. Like it was something she was used to doing and taking for granted, but wasn’t sure she had permission to do now.

_Imagination’s running away with you now, Connor_ Sarah thought.

Maybe. But she wasn’t so sure it was.

She looked at how different Grace was now to how she’d been back in the car or on the train. The sense of care towards the body laying on her own was so clear Sarah half wondered if she was afraid_ she_ might hurt her. As much as she could clearly trust her strength in a fight, was she afraid of it outside of one?

All the hard lines were gone, the lazerbeam glares, the braced shoulders of a lifelong soldier. There was no trace of the half-human war machine to be found here, no sign of the one-woman-wonder-weapon she’d seen in action the previous day.

Instead, she’d stretched herself out and bent her long legs just to make Dani as comfortable as possible, the way young lovers did without being asked. Sarah realized, thinking about it, that the reason Dani was probably able to sleep so well was because Grace was actively compensating for every little bump in the road, and had been the entire time.

She sucked a tight breath through her teeth.

_She’s got it bad._

Did Grace plan on telling Dani about any of it, she wondered?

Seemed only basic courtesy. Doesn’t she, of all people, have a right to know? Especially if maybe they’re the real deal by Grace’s time. Isn’t that pertinent fucking information?

_Shit, should I tell her? _ thought Sarah, with an inward heave.

Under other circumstances, none of it was her business. But these were the circumstances. They were all in the same firing line. She needed to know shit like this, because people made_ decisions_ based on shit like this.

And she didn’t know about Dani, but she sure didn’t like surprises – most people didn’t, no matter what they said. She would bet Dani would rather know something like that than not know it.

Ten more minutes passed on relatively even track, and she found herself grateful for the engine noise.

Grace still hadn’t moved. She looked content to stay where she was for the rest of her life. Dani, if anything, had nestled closer in against her._ Like young lovers_, she thought again. Like something from a music video or a goddamn commercial for blue jeans.

Sarah sighed.

She couldn’t imagine ever liking Grace, but still. When she looked at her now, all she could find to feel for her was pity.

There was an innocence to all of it, and it sat uneasily with her. Sarah was long past the point of believing in happy ever afters, and Grace had to know better than to think they were likely to ride off into the sunset together. She wasn't stupid. How did she possibly think this would end?

And finally, it dawned on her. That’s _exactly_ why she hasn’t told her. She _expects_ it to end in tears.

No, Grace wasn’t stupid. Here she was, making the best of having Dani close as she could, taking what she could get and just glad to have that, because she _knew._

She knew. She knew that whatever happened, there wasn’t going to be a honeymoon or happy families in their future. She was grateful to just get this before whatever happened, happens.

_"Ah shit, kid,"_ she thought.

She didn’t like Grace, but she made a kind of sense to her now, and she was honestly sorry for her. Even as cynical as she thought she was, even after all the bullshit she’d seen with her own eyes, she felt sorry for her.

She looked at her gazing down at Dani like she'd hurled the fucking moon, probably feeling every second tick away, every one taking them closer to the end of their little moment. No wonder she was in such a hurry to get her ass kicked for her all the time.

She shook her head softly, at herself more than anyone else.

She remembered wondering earlier if Grace could even feel pain anymore - now she reckoned she probably just didn't care about it. It just didn't matter to her. It was worth it. It was nothing next to -

The truck clattered again, and Dani stirred.

This time she didn’t settle back to sleep. She started waking up and made to move and, just like that, the spell was broken.

The squared shoulders reappeared, the comforting hand slipped away.

By the time Dani looked for her – before, Sarah had to note, she could even have known where the hell _she_ was - Grace was already all hard edges and lines again. She reserved a certain, guarded softness in Dani’s direction, as always, but the bubble had burst. The dreamy young would-be lovers on a roadtrip were gone, and now, once again, there was only the soldier, the mission, the target.

Sarah watched it all happen in an instant, like a mirage dissolving, with far more sadness than she expected.

She unfolded her glasses and looked away. Somehow that felt like all she could offer them.


End file.
